One aspect relates to a device including power semiconductor components, corresponding drivers, and at least one corresponding controller.
Controllable power semiconductor components (that will be referred to as power semiconductors in the following) are often embedded singly or multiply in power semiconductor modules that are encapsulated in plastic for protection against dirt, mechanical stress and other environmental effects. Such power semiconductor modules are often employed as fast electronic switches for handling high currents and/or voltages, as is the case, for example, with frequency converters which generate from an AC line voltage of constant voltage and constant frequency AC voltages of optional level and frequency for corresponding consumers such as, for instance, asynchronous motors or synchronous motors.
These power semiconductors are thereby driven by at least one controller or regulator in conjunction with corresponding drivers for the individual power semiconductors or arrays thereof. The purpose of such drivers is to convert the signals output by the controller and usually of low power or unsuitable voltage into the wanted signals for driving the power semiconductors. It is often the case that the drivers also handle other functions, they thus also detect temperature, current and voltage at the power semiconductors and signal these back to the controller for decoding so that the power semiconductors can be instantly turned off when an undesired operating state occurs. Since voltages, levels and currents used by the controller greatly differ from the voltages, potentials and currents to be switched, it is expedient to at least separate the potentials concerned from each other. If, in addition to this, not only signal communication in one direction (unidirectional) namely in communicating the control signals from the controller to the drivers, but also return signalling is needed as described above, communicating the signals in both directions (bidirectional) needs to be possible.
As is usually the case with intelligent power modules (IPM) the power semiconductors, further integrated electronic circuitry for the drivers and protection functions as well as optocouplers for transmitting the control signals on a printed circuit board or in a substrate, respectively, are grouped together into a module, for example. The voltage for powering the electronic circuitry has to be made available externally. In this connection thermal problems may occur, since power semiconductors dissipate a substantial amount of heat. Although the power semiconductors themselves can withstand even relatively high temperatures (future requirements calling for up to 200° C. and higher) the other circuit components cooperating therewith, especially the controller electronics, have problems handling temperatures exceeding 100° C. This is why known modules are often operated at lower maximum temperatures and thus at lower continuous power than as actually available by the power semiconductors, and/or why complicated measures need to be taken to improve cooling.
Power semiconductors and circuitry directly involved therein, such as drivers whose floating power supply and elements for signal communication from the controller to the drivers, are engineered, where possible, in similar or same technology. Additionally such circuitry may be designed to be directly mounted on the same substrate as that of the power semiconductors. The resulting module is superior to function-comparable commercially available modules as to footprint and high temperature performance. Unfortunately, however, a considerable heat flow is transmitted to the control electronics via the electrically conductive connections between the control electronics and drivers. Apart from this, the control electronics is structured too complex to achieve a comparable high temperature performance at reasonable expense. On the other hand to avoid overheating the control electronics the power semiconductors cannot be operated to their full or maximum temperature handling capacity.
There is therefore a need for using durably operating the power semiconductors of a power semiconductor module to their limits.
For these and other reasons there is a need for the present invention.